Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Year : 2, Issue: 33
by Hannah Fierick & Craig McCarthy, NY Post
Mayoral hopeful Andrew Cuomo was denied public matching funds in his bid for City Hall — delivering a fundraising blow to the tune of nearly $3 million to the current front-runner aiming for a political comeback.
The decision by the Campaign Finance Board came Tuesday morning after the Cuomo campaign sent a panicked email over the weekend to supporters asking them to fill out last-minute forms and digitally give their signatures to ensure matching funds.
The email came with the subject line “Urgent – Action Required” and stressed, “THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.”
“We need you to complete the form included in this additional email, TODAY IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. We apologize for the inconvenience, but it is critical that we get these forms back as soon as possible.”
The ex-gov’s campaign lost out on roughly $2.7 million in matching funds on $332,530.
The city provides 8-to-1 matching funds for donations up to $2,150 from city residents as part of an effort to open up the field to less wealthy candidates.
The paperwork messup is the latest blunder over just the last few days, including a typo-ridden housing plan and the misspelling of two top union leaders in announcing their endorsements.
“Last Friday, the campaign was informed by the campaign finance board that, due to a technical software error, contributions collected on one of our vendor platforms, NGP, were missing one of the fields required by the Campaign Finance Board, and so while we met the thresholds necessary to receive matching funds, the campaign had to remedy this technical matter,” said campaign spokesperson Rich Azzopardi.
“We have since fully addressed the software issue and have complied with all requirements and will be submitting the proper documentation to the Board within the one week grace period the board allows to remedy technical issues to receive our eligible matching funds on May 12.”
The Cuomo campaign has raised roughly $2.5 million in donations, but that doesn’t include the super PAC that has netted millions more.
